The Renal Patients Association is urging the government to include the treatment of renal disease in the yet-to-be-presented 2024 budget statement.
The association celebrated the reopening of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital renal unit and the government’s announcement to clear the GH¢4 million owed by the unit. Additionally, they appealed to the government to make financial commitments in the 2024 budget to cover the dialysis sessions of its members.
The spokesperson for the association, Baffour Kojo Ahenkorah, stated in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM that the only way to make the treatment of renal disease in Ghana sustainable is to expedite action by allocating funds in the 2024 budget for the treatment or including the cost of the treatment in the National Insurance Scheme.
“The government has to come in because the last time I spoke to someone, he made me understand that the GH¢380 that we are paying now, if we continue, then the government has to subsidize almost GH¢1 million every month. If they move it to GH¢500 per session, then the government will be doing almost GH¢400 in subsidy for each session. But the point is, can this be sustained? We were not even able to pay when it was GH¢380, so the government has to look at it very well.
“No matter how rich you are, and you are on dialysis, a time will come when your money will run out. So the government should look at it critically and expedite the move on it as to whether they will put it on the health insurance or they will raise some funds and put it in the budget because this is something that nobody can sustain.”